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Archives for September 2019

NHL Releases Detailed Rule Changes For 2019-20

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The NHL’s Public Relations team has released a video updating all of the rule changes for the upcoming season, agreed upon earlier this year. The five-minute video goes in-depth on each change, noting that the focus was on expanded video review, promoting player safety and encouraging more offense. The full list is as follows:

Video Review:

Referees will be required to review any major or match penalty, excluding fighting majors. The penalty can be confirmed or reduced to a minor penalty, but not completely rescinded.

The officials can also review any double-minor high-sticking penalty, and either confirm or rescind it if it wasn’t an opponent’s stick that caused the damage. It cannot be reduced to a minor penalty.

In both cases, review will not be used to call a penalty, only review. It also cannot be used to increase a penalty from a minor to a major.

Coaches Challenge:

In addition to offside and goaltender interference, coaches can now challenge plays in the offensive zone that should have resulted in a stoppage but did not prior to a goal. The examples given are pucks off the spectator netting, a hand pass or high-stick.

All three categories now result in a two-minute minor penalty for the first unsuccessful challenge, and a four-minute double-minor penalty for the second unsuccessful challenge. Plays in the final minute of the third period and overtime will be automatically reviewed by the league situation room.

Helmets:

Rule 9.6 – A player on the ice whose helmet comes off during play shall be assessed a minor penalty if he does not either exit the playing surface or retrieve and replace his helmet properly on his head within a reasonable amount of time. 

“Reasonable” is at the discretion of the referee. A player who intentionally removes an opponent’s helmet, will be assessed a minor roughing penalty.

Line Changes:

Teams will no longer be allowed to execute a line change if their goalie initiates a stoppage on a puck shot from the other side of center, or if the net is unintentionally dislodged by a defensive skater (does not include the goaltender). In either case, time-outs are also not permitted.

Face-Offs:

Face-offs will take place in zone where puck was shot out of bounds from, regardless of which team shot it.

The offensive team will be allowed to choose which face-off location following an icing, following a goalie stoppage from behind the red line, following a defensive skater unintentionally dislodging the net, and on the first face-off to start a powerplay.

 

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Seventeenth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)
8th Overall: James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins (2)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)
12th Overall: Kyle Turris, Montreal Canadiens (3)
13th Overall: David Perron, St. Louis Blues (26)
14th Overall: Mikael Backlund, Colorado Avalanche (24)
15th Overall: Evgenii Dadonov, Edmonton Oilers (71)
16th Overall: Alec Martinez, Minnesota Wild (95)

As the back half of the first round gets underway, the Wild snatch up a solid and perhaps underrated defenseman in Martinez. That’s a huge raise for a player who wasn’t even selected in his first two years of eligibility or ranked at all by NHL Central Scouting. Martinez, who was set to turn 20 the month following the draft, had already played two seasons at Miami University (Ohio) and showed he could be a reliable two-way presence. Though there is obviously risk in drafting a player already deep into his college years—the Kings could have lost him to unrestricted free agency just two summers later—they ended up convincing him to sign in 2008 and he quickly became a rising star in the organization.

Making his debut during the 2009-10 season, it would be just a couple of years before he was a huge part of the team’s 2012 Stanley Cup championship. A few years after that he would scoring the Cup-winning goal in the Kings’ second title—in double overtime to boot—cementing him in franchise lore. Jumping up into the rush wasn’t something Martinez made a habit of, but it is well within his capabilities. Through a decade with the Kings he has played 556 regular season games, scoring 61 goals and 190 points. That puts him fifth among all defensemen selected in the 2007 draft, despite almost slipping out of the top-100 picks.

The New York Rangers, who selected 17th in 2007, will never know if they made the right choice. Only one player to that point—Lars Eller at 13th—had been selected from outside of North America, so the Rangers decided to test their luck with the supremely skilled Russian forward Alexei Cherepanov. The young winger had just recorded 36 points in 57 games at the highest level of Russian hockey, won gold at the U18 and silver at the U20 World Juniors while being named the tournament’s best forward. Cherepanov was the highest ranked international skater by NHL Central Scouting, and looked like a lock to be a top-line player in the NHL if the Rangers could convince him to come over.

Tragically however, just 16 months later in the first official KHL season, Cherepanov would collapse on the bench. He was pronounced dead at hospital later that day while he was still just 19 years old. Playing on a team with Jaromir Jagr, Cherepanov was off to a blazing start with eight goals and 13 points in 15 games. His potential seemed boundless, but the Rangers never got to find out what he could do at the highest level of hockey. The KHL has since named their Rookie of the Year trophy after Cherepanov, while Avangard retired his jersey number.

If you gave the Rangers front office the pick over again, you can bet they would select Cherepanov again. We have chosen to exclude him from this exercise, meaning someone else will have to take his place on the list.

With the seventeenth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the New York Rangers select?  Cast your vote below!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Snapshots: Juulsen, Rantanen, Gust

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The Montreal Canadiens have announced some troubling news regarding young defenseman Noah Juulsen, who is planning on consulting a specialist for his ongoing headaches. Juulsen just can’t seem to stay healthy long enough to take a real step forward in his development, having missed all but 24 games at any level last season after taking two pucks to the face in November.

Originally drafted 26th overall in 2015, the former WHL standout has actually only played in a total of 80 games as a professional and seems to still be facing symptoms that could put the start of his season in jeopardy. Even if he does get them sorted out quickly the team now has eight NHL defensemen on the roster and more coming up the pipeline. While Juulsen could likely pass over names like Karl Alzner and Christian Folin quickly, he’ll have to get healthy to even give himself a chance.

  • After another report recently that the Colorado Avalanche and Mikko Rantanen are not close to a deal, it looks like he’s found another unsigned RFA to spend some time with. According to a report out of Finland, Rantanen will join Patrik Laine with SC Bern of the Swiss NLA to train until things are resolved. Rantanen also played in the 2016 World Championship under Bern head coach Kari Jalonen, where Laine earned tournament MVP honors and the Finns took home a silver medal.
  • Even though most minor league rosters are set at this point and just waiting for training camp cuts from their NHL affiliates, the Charlotte Checkers aren’t done adding depth. The team signed Dave Gust to an AHL deal today, bringing in the former Ohio State star to give them another option up front. The 25-year old Gust has played the last two seasons with the Bakersfield Condors, scoring 33 points in 59 games last year.

Carolina Hurricanes Sign Fredrik Claesson

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Apparently Fredrik Claesson has done enough to prove he can still play. The Carolina Hurricanes have signed the 26-year old defenseman to a one-year, two-way contract that carries a $700K salary at the NHL level after previously being in training camp on a professional tryout.

Claesson spent last season with the New York Rangers where he suited up 37 times and registered six points, but was left without a qualifying offer for the second consecutive summer. The 2011 fifth-round pick had previously spent the first six years of his North American professional career with the Ottawa Senators, and has a total of 164 NHL games under his belt.

It’s unlikely that Claesson will make a big impact for Carolina out of the gate given their impressive defensive depth, but he can serve as a veteran option to fill in for short periods of time. He also gives the team a good option to carry as the extra defenseman on the roster while giving Jake Bean more time in the minor leagues, if the youngster fails to make to opening night lineup. With Trevor van Riemsdyk on the shelf to begin the season and Justin Faulk’s future with the team still uncertain, adding even more depth on the blueline was important.

Though he will need waivers to clear and be assigned to the minor leagues, Claesson could also represent another strong option for the Charlotte Checkers as they look to defend their Calder Cup title in the AHL.

Training Camp Cuts: 09/17/19

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Like always, we’ll keep track of all the training camp cuts right here. Keep checking back to see the updated list:

Calgary Flames (per team release)

F Milos Roman (to Vancouver, WHL)
F Dmitry Zavgorodniy (to Rimouski, QMJHL)
G Dustin Wolf (to Everett, WHL)

Dallas Stars (per team release)

F Riley Damiani (to Kitchener, OHL)
F Curtis Douglas (to Windsor, OHL)
F Nicholas Porco (to Saginaw, OHL)

Florida Panthers (per team release)

F Patrick Bajkov (to Springfield, AHL)
F Blaine Byron (to Springfield, AHL)
F Aleksi Heponiemi (to Springfield, AHL)
F Jake Horton (to Springfield, AHL)
F Cliff Pu (to Springfield, AHL)
F Sebastian Repo (to Springfield, AHL)
F Adam Rockwood (to Springfield, AHL)
D Brady Keeper (to Springfield, AHL)
D Will Lochead (to Springfield, AHL)
G Joseph Raaymakers (released from PTO)

Nashville Predators (per team release)

F Egor Afanasyev (to Windsor, OHL)
F Philip Tomasino (to Niagara, OHL)

New Jersey Devils (per team release)

F Mitchell Hoelscher (to Ottawa, OHL)
F Graeme Clarke (to Ottawa, OHL)
D Xavier Bernard (to Charlottetown, QMJHL)
D Nikita Okhotyuk (to Ottawa, OHL)
D Michael Vukojevic (to Kitchener, OHL)
G Akira Schmid (to Omaha, USHL)
G Eamon McAdam (to Binghamton, AHL)

St. Louis Blues (per team release)

F Mathias Laferriere (to Cape Breton, QMJHL)
G Joel Hofer (to Portland, WHL)

Vancouver Canucks (per team release)

F Carter Bancks (to Utica, AHL)
F Carter Camper (to Utica, AHL)
F Dylan Sadowy (to Utica, AHL)
F Dyson Stevenson (to Utica, AHL)
F Tanner Sorenson (to Utica, AHL)
F Wacey Hamilton (to Utica, AHL)
D Dylan Blujus (to Utica, AHL)
D Mitch Eliot (to Utica, AHL)
D Zach Frye (to Utica, AHL)
D Stefan Leblanc (to Utica, AHL)
D Matt Petgrave (to Utica, AHL)
D Aaron Thow (to Utica, AHL)
G Jake Kielly (to Utica, AHL)
F Carson Focht (to Calgary, OHL)
F Ethan Keppen (to Flint, OHL)
G Arturs Silovs (to Barrie, OHL)
D Jett Woo (to Calgary, WHL)
F Will Warm (released from ATO)

Boston Bruins Sign Brandon Carlo

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The Boston Bruins have locked up their final unsigned restricted free agent, inking Brandon Carlo to a two-year deal. The contract carries an average annual value of $2.85MM and will keep Carlo a restricted free agent at its expiry. Like most of the other RFAs this summer, the young defenseman will earn more money on the final year of the deal. Carlo will take home $2.2MM in 2019-20 and $3.5MM in 2020-21.

Carlo, 22, was a little overshadowed by Charlie McAvoy this summer as the young duo became restricted free agents at the same time, but he nevertheless was an extremely important piece for GM Don Sweeney to get under contract before the season began. A second-round pick in 2015, Carlo has quickly established himself as a reliable full-time option for the Bruins and played in 230 games over the last three seasons. The 6’5″ defenseman averaged nearly 21 minutes a night last season and recorded ten points, serving as the second most important penalty killer on the team behind only captain Zdeno Chara.

Though they were forced to go the bridge route with both McAvoy and Carlo (and Danton Heinen, who was signed earlier in the offseason), the Bruins have found a way to bring all of their pieces back with cap space to spare for this season. The team currently projects to come in a little more than $1.1MM under the ceiling to begin the year with almost the same lineup that took them to the Stanley Cup Final.

To be sure, there will be raises for both young defensemen in the future if they continue to play how they have during the early parts of their careers. But getting them both for less than $8MM combined will only help the Bruins current competitive window stay wide open.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Vancouver Canucks Sign Brock Boeser

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The Vancouver Canucks have come to a resolution with Brock Boeser, signing him to a three-year contract worth a total of $17.625MM. That means Boeser will carry an average annual value of $5.875MM, a fair amount less than numbers that had been discussed earlier this summer. GM Jim Benning released a short statement on the deal:

We’re very pleased to have Brock re-sign. He’s a talented player, a key contributor to our offence and an important part of our team’s future. We look forward to having Brock join the team in preparation for the upcoming season.

As with several other restricted free agent contracts, Boeser’s deal will be back-loaded to force the team into giving him an expensive qualifying offer down the road. The full breakdown of the deal comes from Dan Murphy of Sportsnet:

  • 2019-20: $700K salary + $3.3MM signing bonus
  • 2020-21: $3.125MM salary + $3.0MM signing bonus
  • 2021-22: $7.5MM salary

That means that the Canucks will have to offer Boeser at least $7.5MM in 2022, given he will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the deal. As we wrote earlier today when things were picking up between the two sides, the 22-year old Canucks forward was in a different situation than many of the other unsigned RFAs. He and Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins were both ineligible for offer sheets after making their NHL debuts following college seasons in 2017, giving them even less leverage in negotiations. As it turned out, both players have signed three-year deals to get them to their arbitration years.

In Boeser’s case, he still landed quite the raise and will immediately become the second highest-paid forward on the Canucks roster (only trailing fourth-line winger Loui Eriksson). For good reason too, given the 59 goals he has scored over his first 140 games in the NHL, a rate that puts him 17th in the entire NHL since the start of the 2016-17 season. That kind of first-line production will make Boeser a bargain right away for the Canucks as long as he can stay healthy, something that has been something of an issue so far in his career.

For the Canucks, there was no way they could afford to start the season without Boeser in the lineup. Vancouver spent up to acquire more talent this offseason by signing Micheal Ferland and Tyler Myers in free agency, while trading a first-round pick for J.T. Miller. After a few years of rebuilding the team wants to start contending for the playoffs once again, with Boeser, Horvat and Elias Pettersson driving the play up front.

The question now becomes who else is on the roster behind them. The team has 15 forwards signed to one-way contracts plus Pettersson and Adam Gaudette who are both still on their entry-level deals. 13 of those one-way deals are for at least $1.25MM, meaning they would still be felt (in part) against the cap even in the minor leagues. Boeser is also the only one of them that is still waiver-exempt, meaning there will be tough choices on who to expose to the rest of the league at the end of training camp if the group is healthy.

Boeser’s signing leaves just nine restricted free agents still to sign.

Training Camp Cuts: 09/16/19

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Like always, we’ll keep track of all the training camp cuts right here. Keep checking back to see the updated list:

Arizona Coyotes (per team release)

D Connor Hall (released from ATO)
F Eric Uba (assigned to Guelph, OHL)
F Valentin Nussbaumer (assigned to Shawinigan, QMJHL)
F David Levin (assigned to Sudbury, OHL)
F Liam Kirk (assigned to Peterborough, OHL)
D Axel Bergkvist (assigned to Kitchener, OHL)
D Dennis Busby (assigned to Flint, OHL)
D Brady Lyle (assigned to Owen Sound, OHL)
G David Tendeck (assigned to Vancouver, WHL)

Colorado Avalanche (per team release)

F Travis Barron (assigned to Colorado, AHL)
F Brandon Saigeon (assigned to Colorado, AHL)
F Josh Dickinson (assigned to Colorado, AHL)
F Igor Shvyrev (assigned to Colorado, AHL)
D Josh Anderson (assigned to Colorado, AHL)
G Trent Miner (assigned to Vancouver, WHL)

Minnesota Wild (per team release)

F Gabe Gagne (released from PTO)
F Shawn O’Donnell (released from PTO)
F Brett Pollock (released from PTO)
F Jordan Topping (released from PTO)
D Josh Atkinson (released from PTO)
D Lester Lancaster (released from PTO)
D Matt Register (released from PTO)
D Keaton Thompson (released from PTO)
F Adam Beckman (assigned to Spokane, WHL)
F Shawn Boudrias (assigned to Cape Breton, QMJHL)
F Damien Giroux (assigned to Saginaw, OHL)
F Matvey Guskov (assigned to London, OHL)
D Fedor Gordeev (assigned to Guelph, OHL)
G Hunter Jones (assigned to Peterborough, OHL)

Montreal Canadiens (per team release)

F Liam Hawel (released from ATO)

New York Rangers (per team release)

F Ryan Gropp (assigned to Hartford, AHL)
F Ville Meskanen (assigned to Hartford, AHL)
F Ty Ronning (assigned to Hartford, AHL)
G Francois Brassard (assigned to Hartford, AHL)
G Tom McCollum (assigned to Hartford, AHL)
D Nico Gross (assigned to Oshawa, OHL)
D Hunter Skinner (assigned to London, OHL)

Brock Boeser Talks Picking Up

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As of last week, the Vancouver Canucks and Brock Boeser were still not close on a contract despite training camp starting and the season approaching. That may be changing. Both Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet have reported today that talks have “picked up” over the last 24 hours. While both insiders can’t guarantee a deal comes soon, it is a positive sign at the very least that the two sides are talking again.

Boeser, 22, isn’t in the same situation as some the other restricted free agents. He doesn’t have all the rights of the others and couldn’t sign an offer sheet even if one was presented, because he’s played only two full seasons in the league. The former University of North Dakota standout signed after his sophomore college season ended and has just 140 games under his belt. Like Charlie McAvoy however, who was in the same situation, that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to secure a huge raise over his entry-level earnings. Boeser has been one of the most dangerous goal scorers in the league since his debut, registering 59 in those 140 games along with 57 assists.

While McAvoy ended up signing for just three years at $4.9MM, reports earlier this summer had the Canucks offering Boeser a much bigger and longer deal. His camp was trying to keep the term shorter than the reported six-year offer, but at this point it’s not clear what is being discussed. If one side has conceded on the term or salary, perhaps there is something to be done in the coming days. Like most players, Boeser and the Canucks have expressed a desire to get a contract signed before the season begins in order to miss as little time as possible.

It won’t take long to get Boeser to training camp, but the preseason schedule kicks off tonight for the Canucks. Every day this stalemate continues is lost preparation time for the young forward, and we’re now just over two weeks from the start of the regular season. The Canucks open the year in Edmonton on October 2nd, and hopefully will have their sniper ready to go.

Avalanche Notes: Rantanen, Annunen, Zadorov

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Things are all quiet between the Colorado Avalanche and Mikko Rantanen according to Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now, who tweets that there has been “little to no talk” over the last week. There was a prevailing thought in the hockey world that once Mitch Marner signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs there would be some kind of movement with the other restricted free agents, but that’s not necessarily the case in Colorado. Rantanen compares pretty well to Marner after scoring 171 points over the last two seasons, but it is hard to imagine Avalanche GM Joe Sakic was happy when he saw the six-year, $65MM deal come across the wire from Toronto.

Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado’s best player, is making averaging just $6.3MM over the final four years of his contract, making it tough to see the Avalanche hand out nearly twice that amount to Rantanen even with his strong performances to date. The 22-year old Finn will almost certainly become the team’s highest-paid player however if he signs any long-term deal, just how high the Avalanche are willing to go is unclear. Colorado has plenty of cap space for this season, but has to worry about potential extensions for Gabriel Landeskog, Philipp Grubauer and Cale Makar in two years.

  • They won’t have to worry about Justus Annunen for a while however, as the goaltending prospect has signed a two-year extension in Finland that keeps him under contract through 2021-22. While that doesn’t necessarily guarantee Annunen won’t be coming to North America during that time—the NHL does have a transfer agreement with Liiga—it certainly makes remaining overseas a strong possibility. The 19-year old was selected in the third round in 2018 and would see his draft rights expire on June 1, 2022. Annunen was brilliant in his first game for Karpat this season, stopping 23 of 25 shots for a win against HPK.
  • Nikita Zadorov escaped major injury when he left the ice early yesterday and head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic that it is just a lower-body “tweak.” Zadorov is considered day-to-day. It is a big season for Zadorov as he approaches restricted free agency next summer, needing to prove that he can be a top-four option for this team over the long haul.

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